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Calories burned: MTB vs. Road Biking

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69K views 52 replies 37 participants last post by  mr_chrome  
#1 ·
Here's a hypothetical scenario:

One road bicyclist rides at 75% maximum effort on a level paved road for 5 miles.

One MTBer---of identical size, shape, and fitness as the road biker---rides at 75% maximum effort on a level gravel/dirt road for 5 miles.

QUESTION: Which rider burns more calories?

---
I'm posting because a popular fitness/weight loss website called My Fitness Pal makes the assumption that road bikers burn more calories than MTBers riding the same distance/time/intensity.

I say "No way." I do both road and mountain biking...and I'm ALWAYS more wiped-out after a long MTB ride than a long road ride.

Scott
 
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#27 ·
It's quite normal to ride at 75% on the road, another story altogether on the mountain bike. If you ride 75% on the road for 1 hr, you may be satisfy. Not the same as MTB, you'd feel like you've not put in the work out. It takes so much for me to hit 90% on the road, MTB it comes almost automatically.

Don't know about you guys, but 75% Max HR is low for MTB riding regardless of fitness level,IMO. Even if the Max HR is 200 BPM at 75% is only 150, most riders' max HR is 10-20 bpm less. For those who use HR monitor, you'd know the bulk of time spent on an avg ride is between 80-90%. One thing for sure it's more fun to time-trial on a MTB, than paved road, as many things keep your mind off the pain and keep you pushing harder. On the road at 90% you just feel the pain every second.

May be what's OP was asking is generally what most of us understand. When get technical about the wording, we have different answer, because at the end of the day 75% is 75% regardless.
 
J
#28 ·
SWriverstone said:
Here's a hypothetical scenario:

One road bicyclist rides at 75% maximum effort on a level paved road for 5 miles.

One MTBer---of identical size, shape, and fitness as the road biker---rides at 75% maximum effort on a level gravel/dirt road for 5 miles.

QUESTION: Which rider burns more calories?

---
I'm posting because a popular fitness/weight loss website called My Fitness Pal makes the assumption that road bikers burn more calories than MTBers riding the same distance/time/intensity.

I say "No way." I do both road and mountain biking...and I'm ALWAYS more wiped-out after a long MTB ride than a long road ride.

Scott
Click to expand...
Well your hypothetical question has a really easy answer....

The same rider at the same level of output....

So who goes faster the roadie....therefore the MTB guy has to ride longer at the same level of output.....so the MTB guy puts out more energy.

A better questions the same rider on the road and on a MTB ride at 75% of max, for the same amount of time.

Both riders put out the same amount of energy.
 
D
#29 ·
jeffscott said:
Well your hypothetical question has a really easy answer....

The same rider at the same level of output....

So who goes faster the roadie....therefore the MTB guy has to ride longer at the same level of output.....so the MTB guy puts out more energy.

A better questions the same rider on the road and on a MTB ride at 75% of max, for the same amount of time.

Both riders put out the same amount of energy.
Click to expand...
Which weighs more: a pound of rocks or a pund of feathers? Hmmmmmm?!
 
#31 ·
Trail Ninja said:
+1

The OP was equal distance and equal effort. The only thing that could possibly effect calories burned is time spent.

This statement is a slightly different scenario because it includes equal time. It's also an improbable scenario as the time spent shouldn't be equal.

If all three were equal, the calories burned would be equal too. The distance is irrelevant for calculating calorie consumption. Time and intensity will determine how many calories you use.
Click to expand...
Not quite. The proposal is equal effort and distance with different tire sizes and surfaces, time isn't specified. Time will be determined by efficiency as a result; fatter tires on a gravel road aren't as efficient as skinny tires on a paved road and it will take more time (due to the less efficient interface of tire/road, somewhat also aerodynamics) for the circumstances specified.
 
#32 ·
Bikinfoolferlife said:
Not quite. The proposal is equal effort and distance with different tire sizes and surfaces, time isn't specified. Time will be determined by efficiency as a result; fatter tires on a gravel road aren't as efficient as skinny tires on a paved road and it will take more time (due to the less efficient interface of tire/road, somewhat also aerodynamics) for the circumstances specified.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we determined that MTB would take more time & therefore more calories in swSilverstone's hypothetical scenario.

The "equal calories" refers to the statement made by the My Fitness Pal website in the OP .

I'm posting because a popular fitness/weight loss website called My Fitness Pal makes the assumption that road bikers burn more calories than MTBers riding the same distance/time/intensity.
Click to expand...
I'm aware that the statement isn't likely to be possible. It assumes that MTB's and road bikes use the same time & intensity to cover the same distance
 
#33 ·
Trail Ninja said:
Yeah, we determined that MTB would take more time & therefore more calories in swSilverstone's hypothetical scenario.

The "equal calories" refers to the statement made by the My Fitness Pal website in the OP .
Click to expand...
I only commented because the part you quoted had only to do with the OP's scenario, not the website's assumptions he mentioned....
 
#34 ·
Here's what is mostly involved:

Road(flat ride):
1. Steering
2. Occasional shifts
3. Maintaining cadence

Mountain(singletrack):
1. Low speed balancing
2. Shifting gears
3. Shifting body weight(climbs/descents)
4. Looking ahead
5. Braking
6. Applying power to climb
7. Clearing obstacles

Its apparent mountain riding is clearly a bodily resource-sapping(calorie-burning) endeavor on all counts. Just completing a single ride without putting a foot down places your powers of concentration on full sensory overload!!!
 
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#35 ·
Zachariah said:
Here's what is mostly involved:

Road(flat ride):
1. Steering
2. Occasional shifts
3. Maintaining cadence

Mountain(singletrack):
1. Low speed balancing -i do that at traffic lights
2. Shifting gears-all the time
3. Shifting body weight(climbs/descents)- ok not so much,maybe on some of the steeper stuff around here
4. Looking ahead- avoiding cars
5. Braking- yes quite alot
6. Applying power to climb- well unless you live in kansas,there's never really a flat ride
7. Clearing obstacles- train tracks,pot holes

Its apparent mountain riding is clearly a bodily resource-sapping(calorie-burning) endeavor on all counts. Just completing a single ride without putting a foot down places your powers of concentration on full sensory overload!!!
Click to expand...
Lets see i
 
K
#36 ·
gcedillo said:
You can measure with a power meter and MEASURE actual energy expenditure in Watts, that way is dificult to lie to yourself like I did before, it is disheartening but some days you feel like you did a maximum effort (yes with recovery periods and all) and you discover a much lesser performance, the only thing is that this thing is expensive.
Click to expand...
Yes and then is it a power meter at the wheel, crank etc? At the wheel you need to compensate for drive train loss (different on every bike) and your specific efficiency level (we all burn at different levels, efficiencies and proportion of energy source). Different calorie sources are more or less efficient.
An athlete is more effient at using energy, using multiple caloric sources, even breathing!

A power meter is measuring your output NOT your burn rate. :madman:

Also, if you are using the power meter you are not factoring external influences, temp, humidity and wind. All of these effect your output vs real time burn rates.

Take a ride on a 70 deg day and a 90 deg day and use a power meter. On the hotter day if your body is working the same the output is different as your body is using more energy to control its temperature.

Also, road you have a nice steady cooling of wind from motion, relitave to MTB there is a variance as speed is not the same and you are often sheltered. But cooler in the shade.

You see the issues, this is why Calorie counts are usually out a minimum of 20% and usually near 50-75% across the entire population.

KIN
 
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#37 ·
Likely the MTB rider, since he's going to loose a lot of energy to imperfections in the gravel/dirt.
The road biker would need to ride much, much faster to use more calories (loosing more energy to air friction than the MTB rider looses to the road).
At the same time, its easier for the road rider to better use his muscles by concentrating on the 360 degrees of pedal force, while the MTB rider might be more focused on obstacles and constantly having to recover from lost speed due to bumps and such. Better usage of his muscles = higher calories/time passed.
Since the speeds would be so much different, I think its more useful to compare calories per time rather than calories per distance. In that view, the road rider that can achieve high speeds can use so many more calories.
Road allows the rider to better find his optimal effort levels and focus on slowly increasing his intensity. MTB usually have ups/downs which limit how efficiently you can spend your calories.
Feeling of how spent you are at the end of a workout isn't the same as using more calories. It has more to do with maximum exertion (force peaks) and how long you did that.
The winner of any medium/long distance race uses higher pedal speed to minimize muscle wear, which is exactly trying to reduce him from getting spent and having to slow down. Top riders do 100-120rpms on the pedal, which is insanely fast and requires very high concentration and ultimate levels of muscular efficiency.
 
#41 ·
It takes a given amount of fuel to make an engine work at 75% effort, depending on how effort. At 75% effort it will take longer to move a heavier object the same distance as a lighter object, thus more fuel will need to be burned.

The video does a fairly good job but still has a few variables that aren't negated, i.e. Can the roadie just put down more power than the mtn biker? The course for both makes a difference also.

If I spend too much time worrying about how many calories I am burning on a given ride I tend to not have as much fun which means I don't ride as long and then don't burn as many calories.
 
#43 ·
Interesting perspectives.

The road bike is such a good training and fitness tool because its so flexible. You can cruise for an hour and burn basically nothing (but get a decent stretch), or you can mash for an hour until your heart nearly explodes and your legs burn. Theres some really well studied methods of riding a road bike to maximize your workout and get the most out of the time you spend on the bike. Road bike training is down to a science.

You definitely can apply that to riding a mountain bike, but it seems a bit impractical sometimes. Around here most rides involve some pretty steep, long climbs. Taking it "easy" on those climbs still gets your heart pounding and legs burning, and results in most casual riders pushing bikes or going home. Its hard to get new riders to ride a mountain bike with me because everything is so steep! A few hours on the road bikes is anywhere from kid-friendly to a serious fast ride where Im dropped early on.

In short, I think the road bike takes the ticket for a training tool, regardless of which burns more calories in a specific scenario. I think that was more about picking a scenario that favors mtb than picking one as a fair comparison. You can tailor a training program on a road bike that favors your body type and goals, its much harder riding dirt trails. Also, zombie thread!
 
#45 ·
Mountain biking dictates your posture. Cornering, descending, etc, all pull you out of your fully enaged maximum output position. If you just want to expend maximum energy, engage every muscle and pound like the hulk. If you want to be dynamic, move around on the bike and flow with the terrain.

Either way, you aren't enjoying your ride 100% if you are thinking about calories.
 
#46 ·
From a physics standpoint, 75% of whatever you measure compared to 75% exerted in another form of physical prowess is still equal.......

Work = force X distance
Power = work / time

If you measure something by either one of these equations with the answer being 75% output, whatever you are comparing is equal - it is the variables on the other side that change and THAT is where you see the comparisons between MTBikers and roadies.....
 
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#48 ·
Good analysis by many.
Time is the key factor. If a mountain biker is putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour and a road cyclist is also putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour, then they have both pretty much burned the same number of calories.

One difference that has been mentioned.
When road riding, I get into a zone where cadence, heart rate and speed tend to even out and I will maintain it for long stretches. This builds a strong base.
When mountain biking, the power output often comes in spurts. Intervals. this has a different conditioning effect.
I am of the belief that both of these types of training are important.
 
B
#50 ·
bakerjw said:
Good analysis by many.
Time is the key factor. If a mountain biker is putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour and a road cyclist is also putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour, then they have both pretty much burned the same number of calories.
Click to expand...
This works if they're both riding seated on flat, straight terrain where there is no upper body action required. As soon as the mountain biker has to get up off the saddle and/or throw the bike around with his upper body, his power might remain at 200 watts but his HR will probably go up, thereby using more calories. I've noticed that it's really hard to keep watts as high, at the same HR, mtb'ing as compared to road biking because of the other muscle usage that is required.
 
#49 ·
During trail riding, I can ride at threshold between the technical sections that demand peak power (or near it), but my capacity for delivering that peak power will be diminished. If I ride at 60% threshold on the easy parts, I can deliver peak power over and over for hours.

During road riding, I can sneak up to 80% peak power and hold it for as long as I want. It is not terrain limited.

Then there are the issues of long trail downhills, switching to another trail, moments of indecision, stopping for other riders.

After a two hour hard road ride, I'm done for the day, for any type of work besides reclining and drinking a beer.

After a two hour hard mountain ride, I'm tired, but I can still change the oil in my truck and feed the cows.
 
S
#51 ·
Is all about the power output, period. Unless you put a power meter on your MTB, you won't know. Speaking from experiences training with a power meter in road racing, I can burn about 300 to 400 cal per hour, as a 140lb rider. If you weight more, you burn more cal. Cal burn based on our heart rate monitor is totally inaccurate. They are talking about into the thousands. LOL... Think about....if you burn over 1000 cal in one hour, where are you getting your cal replenishment? From your energy drinks and energy bars...which equal to couple of hundreds of cal. :)

MTB diggs more into your anaerobic threshold effort than at your aerobic threshold. It works on your muscles more. Road cycling is more about riding at threshold and only at your max 1 minute to 5 minutes efforts you are digging in your reserve, anaerobic threshold efforts. This happens on short steep climbs or attacking or sprinting. Most people in to road cycling do not do that unless they are training to race. In a race, you are expected to burn matches in order to keep up with the attacks or to keep up with the surges in the field. You would feel the muscle burn before your reach to your max threshold heart rate...for most people, it is about 170 bpm to 185 bpm.
 
#53 ·
Again, folks, from a physics POV, if you look at calories for total output, & MTB = Road, they are the SAME; it is the other side of the equation (max peak watts, VO2 threshold, etc...) that are different and change how you feel after either ride........
 
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